Amino Acid From Asparagus Makes Breast Cancer Spread – (STUDY)

Dr. Ahmed Zayed

Figures show[1] that 1 in 8 US women or 12.4% will develop an invasive form of breast cancer at some point in her life. It is estimated that 266,120 new cases of invasive and 63,960 cases of non-invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2018. For American women, breast cancer death rates are higher than those of any other cancer.

Besides skin cancer, this severe disease is the most frequently diagnosed type of cancer among US women. Although widespread, there is a lot we need to learn about breast cancer and its most dangerous form. The latest study made important discoveries scroll down to find out more.

Breast Cancer and Diet

A study carried out by several institutions including the University of Cambridge and Cedars-Sinai had an objective to discover why triple-negative breast cancer (one of the most aggressive types of this disease) not only survives but also thrives in a patient’s body. The goal here was to find out more about potential mechanisms in order to modify the way this type of breast cancer is treated.

Triple-negative breast cancer lacks receptors for estrogen and progesterone and makes a little dose of protein HER2. In turn, the disease resists common treatments for breast cancer which target hormones and the HER2 protein, hence the triple-negative name. That’s why mortality for this type of breast cancer is higher than in others.

In previous studies, it was found that asparagine, an amino acid found in asparagus, whey, dairy, poultry, beef, fish and seafood, legumes, potatoes, seeds, nuts, soy, and whole grains, contributes to spreading of triple-negative breast cancer.

Professors Simon Knott and Gregory J. Hannon together with their team used mice for the purpose of their study. They administered the mice l-asparaginase, a chemotherapy drug used for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which inhibits the production of amino acid asparagine in the body. At the same time, scientists modified the diet to make sure animals consumed lower amounts of this amino acid.

Results, published in the journal Nature,[2] revealed that double action (l-asparaginase + lower consumption of asparagine) led to declining in breast cancer tumor metastases.

Asparagine Could Be the Key to Breast Cancer Treatment

Professor Hannon said[3] this study identifies asparagine as one of the most important mechanisms that cause breast cancer to spread. For example, mice that were fed high content of this nonessential amino acid experienced faster growth and spread of breast cancer tumor.

Knott and Hannon went one step forward by analyzing data from breast cancer patients. They found a positive relationship between the tumor’s ability to spread to other sites in the body and cancer cells’ ability to synthesize asparagine.

Now that asparagine is identified[4] as a key enzyme for breast cancer growth, it is considered as a major treatment target. What scientists want to do next is to carry out more studies to analyze mechanisms by which diet affects levels of asparagine.

Finding a way to reduce* asparagine could improve* treatment of triple-negative breast cancer and reduce* mortality rates. Of course, we’ll have to wait a while for that to happen, since the study was carried out on mice. Human research is also needed.

Scientists theorize that asparagine could also play a role in the spread of other metastatic cancers.

Conclusion

The latest discovery could change the way triple negative breast cancer is treated. The study found that amino acid asparagine, found in asparagus and many other foods, promotes* spread of breast cancer.

Finding a way to reduce* this enzyme could aid treatment of the severe disease and reduce* mortality rates. Healthy, well-balanced diet is important and the study doesn’t suggest you should discontinue consumption of these foods. Scientists aim to find out how one’s diet influences levels of asparagine.

Dr. Ahmed Zayed Helmy holds a baccalaureate of Medicine and Surgery. He has completed his degree in 2011 at the University of Alexandria, Egypt. Dr. Ahmed believes in providing knowledgeable information to readers. Other than his passion for writing, currently he is working as a Plastic surgeon and is doing his masters at Ain shams University.

Advertising Disclosure

The content that appears on this page is presented as an overview vs. comparative marketing. The provided information includes product information, overviews, buying guides, and product specifications. All trademarks, registered trademarks and service-marks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners. If something is factually inaccurate please contact us and let us know. By contributing your product facts helps to better serve our readers and the accuracy of the content.

The table below does not include all companies or all available products in the market but those that we promote as their affiliates. In full compliance with the FTC guidelines, please assume that any and all links on the table are affiliate links, and we may receive compensation if you click one of these and make a purchase. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own. All editorial content is written without prejudice or bias, regardless of sponsor or affiliate associations.

Something we believe is that every page on the website should be created for a purpose. Our Quality Page Score is therefore a measurement of how well a page achieves that purpose. A page's quality score is not an absolute score however, but rather a score relative to other pages on the website that have a similar purpose. It has nothing to do with any product ratings or rankings. It's our internal auditing tool to measure the quality of the on the page content. There are a number of factors that determine the Page Score of a given page. Landing page quality is a factor in determining Page Score. Landing page quality generally refers to whether or not the overall page contains relevant and original content to the web page visitor. The content quality value of a web page is determined by comparing a page to known quality patterns and each pattern carries a different weighting in how it affects the overall content quality value of a page. We also factor in user generated feedback on this form plus a page quality algorithm. Since web pages content can change, the content quality value of a web page is updated periodically

Your Rating*

Were you able to find the information you were looking for on our website? YesNo